This invention relates to a desensitizing dental composition and more particularly to a two-component desensitizing dental composition.
Hypersensitivity is a common phenomenon among dental patients that often causes the patient to reject dental treatment. The sensitivity may be local or general and very often complicates treatment of a variety of dental problems. Treatment of hypersensitivity has resulted in varying degrees of success. These treatments often have relied upon astringent or coagulating effects of various agents, occulating properties or the ability to render calcium less soluble. Examples of these agents include fluoride, formaldehyde, silver nitrate, zinc oxide and strontium chloride.
Strontium chloride has been shown to be particularly effective in its desensitizing effect. However, strontium chloride is highly soluble in aqueous solution so that when presented to the teeth as an aqueous solution, it is not particularly effective since it has a higher affinity for water rather than the surface of the teeth. In order to be effective, the strontium must penetrate the tooth surface. It has also been proposed to combine strontium chloride with a physiologically acceptable source of fluoride since the fluoride has been shown to be effective in preventing or minimizing cavity formation in teeth. However, attempts to form mixtures including a source of strontium and a source of fluoride have proven ineffective as a means for delivering both strontium and a fluoride to the teeth since they readily precipitate to form strontium fluoride and, as a precipitate, are ineffective to penetrate the tooth surface to provide the desired dental effect.
It has been proposed in Canadian Patent No. 907,514 to Stearns et al to provide a dental desensitizing composition including a source of fluoride and a source of strontium which is complexed with a chelating agent such as ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid in order to prevent precipitation of strontium chloride so that, upon use, the fluoride and the strontium area available separately to the tooth surface to allow penetration into the tooth for their desired effects. However, the chelating agent to which strontium is complexed renders it much more difficult to deposit onto the tooth surface as compared to strontium ion per se. The chelating agent greatly inhibits the insitu reaction of strontium and fluoride which must occur on the tooth surface in order to allow deposition of both on the tooth surface, thereby to effect tooth desensitization.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide a dental desensitizing composition which is a source of both strontium and fluoride both of which are in the form which permits ease of their penetration into or adherence onto the tooth in order to attain the desired dental effect. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a dental desensitizing composition wherein strontium fluoride formation is minimized before the time the composition is applied to the teeth and wherein the strontium ion remains uncomplexed so that it can easily penetrate the surface of the teeth when applied directly to the teeth.